You'll find this article interesting reading as professional permanent makeup technician and artist Melany Whitney speaks about how to enhance your eyes with color and design.
Melany Whitney is an expert permanent cosmetics technician. She is highly regarded by the press and others in her industry and has become the “voice” for permanent cosmetics; regularly interviewed on national television and for fashion magazines. In this interesting article you are sure to learn a few new tips to enhance your eyes even if you don’t wear permanent cosmetics.
If you are considering permanent makeup for the first time, you've got lots of questions. This article will help you to understand why permanent cosmetics should be your new beauty enhancement. With a permanent makeup application there is literally no "down time", you'll be ready to show off your new prettier you right after your procedure.
If you are looking for freedom from makeup, permanent makeup can give you the freedom to look your best at anytime. You can transition immediately from work to an evening out without having to be a slave to the mirror for touch ups; just a quick powder and you're out the door.
For this special piece, we've interviewed Melany Whitney on how she beautifies and enhances eyes permanently. We think that you will find her artistic insight interesting reading.
Interviewer: Melany, you do such a wonderful job on enhancing eye beauty, but don't clients get uncomfortable with you working so close to their eyes with needles?
Melany: Let me explain a little about the eye area first. The eyelids are literally the two folds of skin that shield the eyeball. The upper eyelid is larger and more moveable. It regulates the opening and closing of the eye with the help of the Orbicularis Palpebrarum muscle. Lower lid movement is slight. The eyelids act to sweep dirt from the surface of the eye, protecting it from injury, and helping distribute tear fluid.
As a permanent cosmetic practitioner, I am frequently working in close proximity to the eye and over the major protection for the eye, the eyelid. This is the biggest fear that my clients have – can I go into their actual eyeball during a procedure? Well, because the eyelids are the protection for the eye – I only work with a closed lid – thus protecting the eyeball at all times. I hold the lid firmly, but gently, in order to get enough stretch for pigment retention in that area. Poking a client in the eye has never been a concern for me a seasoned technician. The part of the eyelid that I work on is thicker at the margin – called the Tarsal Ridge. This is where most technicians DO NOT put color because it is actually more difficult to do, if one is not familiar with the physiology of that area.
Interviewer: So do you put color there in the Tarsal Ridge?
Melany: Yes, I feel that any eye lining procedure is not complete without some darkness being put in between the client's eyelashes (the Tarsal ridge area) to give the appearance of a fuller and thicker lash base. It usually is an area in which you simply cannot get conventional eyeliner – so that the line you get with over the counter products, winds up accentuating the thinning of our lash line instead of plumping it up.
I always include this lash enhancement, which in most cases is all that is needed, to give one a "brighter and open eyed" look. It is natural and cannot be easily detected as "added". You can go to sleep, wake up, swim, sweat, etc. without "tell tale raccoon eyes".
Interviewer: What about the client who wants a more dramatic look?
Melany: If my client wishes a bit more thickness or darkness to that upper lash line, I can add a tad thicker line in that area to make that area even more outstanding. At the same time, I try to keep a "soft edge" to both the top and bottom liners for that all important natural appearance.
Interviewer: What about the lower lid, I think you do something different there don't you?
Melany: Yes I do, the lower liner is definitely treated a bit differently than the top liner. It needs to be put in-between each bottom lash and in a more of a stippled or connected dots technique. Due to the natural salt we have in our tears – the bottom line will always fade a lot more than the top and give a softer effect – but a very important one. Without bottom definition, your eyes tend to look droopy and tired. Done correctly, which means, NOT done with a thick application, the liner will actually make your eyes "pop". If not done in just that precise way, a thick black liner will tend to "close the eye up".
Interviewer: What about color selections and what colors should not be used?
Melany: The choices in color for eyeliner have basically come down to black and black brown. Color can actually be applied as a shadow above the liner (permanently or by conventional means) if desired later. If you understand color theory – the reason you should not rim your eyes with a medium or light brown is that those browns tend to have too much warmth or red tones in them and can give your eyes a "rabbit eye" (pink) effect.
Interviewer: Any other important tips for us today on eyeliner?
Melany: Another VERY important tip is that eyeliners should NOT go past the last lash in any direction (top or bottom). This is due to the fact that if done in the medial area or outer Canthus area of the eye, you could experience "migration", weeping or bleeding of the color under the skin, where it is not supposed to be. I am asked many times to pass these parameters and decline. Better safe than sorry in these instances!
Another comment I'd like to make is that all black eyeliner pigments have "blue" in them. This blue will eventually come out months to years down the road. This has never been a "negative" to be concerned about, since all eyes look great with the smallest bit of blue or charcoal around them. Actually this "fading" tends to make light blue eyes a bit greener looking! This does not indicate that your technician is using "common" tattoo ink in your liner – it is simply a reality of the color black.
Interviewer: What great tips and insights into how you enhance eyes permanently. I think that even if you don’t wear permanent cosmetics that your tips about color and placement of liner every woman can use to improve her personal eye beauty even with removable makeup.
